Burt’s Fine Wine
“It was 1962 and Burt Munro had somehow managed to get his suped-up Indian motorcycle from New Zealand to the Salt Flats, where he hoped to set a record,” writes Tom Wharton for The…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
In His Sights
Scott Dixon, 29, has won the Indy Japan 300 mile auto race at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, northeast of Tokyo and first place in the IndyCar series with one race remaining. Dixon recorded…
Flawless Performance
Palmerston North Formula 3 driver, Brendon Hartley, 19, won his maiden European Championship race at Brands Hatch in England last week, and is delighted to be back on the top step of the podium…
Aiming for Two
Auckland Indy Car champion Scott Dixon, 28, “is the driver to catch” ahead of the Rexall Edmonton Indy on July 24 -26, and with three wins under his belt already this season, Dixon says…
Hartley Gets Wings
New Zealander Brendon Hartley, 19, has been granted his motor racing super-licence and will join Red Bull as a reserve driver, the Formula One team said. The former Palmerston North Boys’ High School student,…
Something Gained
Defending IndyCar Series champion New Zealander Scott Dixon, 28, has won the Road Runner Turbo Indy 3000 at Kansas Speedway. “We needed something,” Dixon said. “You know, even a sniff of something. Because so…
Shocking and pleasing
Palmerston North teenager Levi Sherwood, 17, has shocked the freestyle motocross world (FMX) by winning the first event of the 2009 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour in Mexico on debut, in front of 43,000…
Faster than Lightning
New Zealander Jock Freemantle’s $1 million Hulme CanAm supercar, named after racing driver and 1967 Formula One world champion Denis “Denny” Hulme, is, writes Britain’s Times Online, “a machine with the power to rival…
Speed Demon’s Dream
Wellington entrepreneur Richard Nowland is the man behind the only jet-powered car ever designed and built in New Zealand. Nowland purchased a Rolls-Royce Avon 206 turbojet engine and intends to transform it into New…
Speed Demoness
New Zealand racing star Christina Orr will be competing in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour Race, driving for Jim Hunter Motorsport. The 2008 Bruce McLaren New Zealand Driver of the Year will be teaming…
Eight Points Up
Wanganui teenage racing driver Earl Bamber has taken a podium finish at China’s Formula 1 Grand Prix meeting in Shanghai, repeating his recent result as part of the A1 New Zealand team in the…
Series Victory for Dixon
Aucklander Scott Dixon has won his second IndyCar Series championship at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Though Brazilian Helio Castroneves won the race by .0033 of a…
Toward NASCAR
Auckland speedway driver and Midget racer Michael Pickens, 25, is on the way to his dream of a NASCAR future getting stock car experience on paved tracks this summer in the ASA Late Model…
Ice Man Wins Indy 500
New Zealander Scott Dixon, 27, woke to the traditional 6am race-day explosion, ate American pancakes with hot syrup for breakfast and then from pole position drove 200 laps to win the 92nd Indianapolis 500,…
Black Beauty Tops Rankings
Team NZ has won its first A1 Grand Prix race on home soil in Taupo, and is now the overall series leader. Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid won the Sprint Race and finished…
Beauty and the Beast
Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid took on a Boeing 777 at Auckland International Airport this month, in a dramatic promotional stunt for January’s A1 Grand Prix event in Taupo. The race car and…
Black Beauty Strikes at Brno
Team NZ is top of the A1 Grand Prix table after scoring a double victory in Brno, Czech Republic. Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid won both the sprint and feature races, pushing NZ past…
MX Star Takes Second World Title
Auckland teen Katherine Prumm has won her second consecutive women’s motocross world title at the series final in the Netherlands. The 19-year-old rider dominated the final day of the competition, beating Kawasaki team-mates Livia…
Champion Teen Eyes MX Crown
Hamish Dobbyn, a 15-year-old motocross rider from Warkworth, has won the 250cc four-stroke class at the Yamaha MX National Development Series in Australia. Next on his agenda is the World Junior Motocross Championships in…
Mind Over Matter
NZ neuroscientist Dr Kerry Spackman is working with Team McLaren to uncover the workings of a racing driver’s mind. “In most sports now, the modern athlete is pushing his brain to the limit,” he says….
Queen of the Track
Current world champ Katherine Prumm enjoyed back to back wins in the opening round of the Australian Women’s Motocross Championships in Victoria. The South Auckland Kawasaki rider was her own harshest critic, claiming “I…
Legend of The Bear Lives On
NZ car racing great Denny Hulme was the subject of a retrospective article on the sport in the Guardian. Known as The Bear for his rugged looks and gruff manner, Hulme dominated Formula One…
World First for Scary Mary
Papamoa’s “Scary” Mary Perkins is the first woman in history to tour with freestyle motocross legends the Crusty Demons. The 24-year-old is currently the world’s number one female freestyler and holds the record for the longest…
NZ’s Home of Motorsport
Taupo’s inaugural A1 Grand Prix meet for the World Cup of Motorsport was a huge success, with 80,000 spectators packing the stands. Adding to the experience, Team NZ placed third overall in what was the first…
Life of a Legend
A film based on the life of NZ motorsport legend Bruce McLaren is rumoured to be in the works. According to Grand Prix website, the production has been linked to “some of those…
Black Beauty Takes the Bridge
NZ A1 Grand Prix driver Jonny Reid has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Reid crossed the bridge seven times, reaching speeds of over 160km/h. Police traffic controllers had…
WrightSpeed
NZ sheep farmer turned e-car entrepreneur Ian Wright features in an AFRMagazine story on the rise of the electric car. Wright’s prototype vehicle — the Wrightspeed X1
Black Beauty Takes Two
The Indonesian round of the A1Grand Prix saw a historic double victory for NZ, with “BlackBeauty” driver Jonny Reid winning the 47-lap feature race as well as the sprint race earlier in the…
Kiwi Creation Joins World’s Supercars
NZ’s first supercar, the Hulme.F1, secured a rare invitation to show at Britain’s prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed. The annual event showcases the latest designs by big names Ferrari, Maserati and Aston Martin, as well as…
Career High for Cunningham
NZ’s up-and-coming Indy racing star, WadeCunningham, pulled out a thrilling win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Freedom 100 event. The 21-year-old led all 40 laps, setting an average speed record of 295.48km/h
Fast Inductee
Kiwi legend Burt Munro is one of nine new members selected for induction into Ohio’sMotorcycle Hall of Fame this year. The Invercargill native set a land-speed record on his customised 1920 Indian Scout at…
Revved Up for ’06
2005 was an incredibly successful year for NZ motorsport, as TMC reports in its annual review. Two of the top three places in the world MX1 motocross championship were filled by New Zealanders, with…
And France Makes Three
Kiwi motor cross stars Ben Townley and Josh Coppins finished first and second respectively at the French Grand Prix in St Jean d’Angely. The win marked the third Grand Prix title of Townley’s rookie season. “At…
“Star for the Future”
20-year-old Ben Townley won his first motocross world title (and NZ’s second) with a double victory in the MX2 class at the Grand Prix of Ireland. “On the last lap of the first race, my mechanic, Craig…
Back to Back Wins at ‘The Glens’
Kiwi driver Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing has won the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix for the second consecutive year. Dixon’s win – his first for 2006 – moves him up two…
Catch Me if You Can Merriman
NZer Stefan Merriman won the 250cc two-stroke class riding for Australia at the 2003 International Six Days’ Enduro in Fortaleza, Brazil. “The three-time world champion was an intimidating force on his Honda CRE250 two-stroke machine, easily…
Go Karting Cunningham
Auckland teenager Wade Cunningham added to NZ motorsport’s current winning streak by claiming the world karting championship crown in Sarno, Italy. According to Kartsport NZ spokesman, Ross McKay, the 19-year-old’s victory is “unprecedented in the history of NZ motorsport ……
Day of Thunder for Dixon
Scott Dixon, 23, racing for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team, claimed the Indy Racing League title in Fort Worth, Texas. It was his first attempt on the circuit. Finishing 2nd in the season’s nerve-racking final…
Like Father, Like Son
NZer Steve Richards – the younger half of the “most successful father-son duo in Australian motor sport” – interviewed in the Age about his new three-year contract with Castrol Perkins. At 31, Steve has 25 years to…
Boy Racer
NZ racing star, Scott Dixon, achieved three consecutive pole positions in the Indy Racing League last month, and broke the track record at Nashville in the process. His winning streak was cut short by gearbox problems…
Merriman Buries Them
Australian-based NZer, Stefan Merriman, earned his third motorcycle world title at the World Enduro Championship in Skovda, Sweden. It was his second world title win in the 250cc two-stroke class. Merriman now ranks as Australia’s second most…
Life in the Fast Lane
Scott Dixon has been dubbed “the new man to beat” on the Indy Racing circuit after a series of remarkable performances behind the wheel. The 22-year-old followed up his Honda Indy 225 victory by blitzing the field…
Possum Bourne Mourned
Rally champion Peter “Possum” Bourne, who died April 30th (aged 47), has been praised as “a humble man with rare ability, a relentless competitor who inspired a new generation of drivers.” “The most successful rally driver in…
Making Tracks
22-year-old Scott Dixon blitzed the field at the opening Indy 300 in Florida, making him the just the third competitor ever to win an IRL race on his season debut. Said Dixon of his second Indy-car…
Slight Change
New Zealand superbike champ Aaron Slight picks up two extra wheels driving for Peugeot in the British Touring Car Championships.
Slightly Missed
“Aaron Slight worked very hard for the team in the seven years he was with us and everyone at Castrol Honda is very appreciative of that. He played an important part in the development of the…
Raving About Dixon in Detroit
Motown: Scott Dixon has won the first two races of the Dayton Indy Lights series and history indicates that he is well on his way to a championship in his first season with PacWest Racing. “I…
Remarkable Slight Back on Track after Brain Op
New Zealander Aaron Slight says he is ready to attempt one of motorcycling’s most remarkable comebacks … no one has ever had brain surgery then tried to race again at the top level three months later….
